Candidates for the City Council have made the cost of Commerce’s popular Resident Activity Card a big issue in the March 3 election, claiming a 3-tier fee system imposed five years ago during the economic downturn is hurting low-income residents and seniors, and should have been rolled back some time ago.

The issue has made it on to campaign mailers and at a recent candidate’s debate, several candidates vying for two council seats, criticized the council for not cutting the fees given the city’s improved financial outlook.

Last week, the Commerce City Council did just that, unanimously approving a motion by Mayor Tina Baca del Rio to eliminate the multi-level pricing schedule in favor of an across the board $5 processing fee for all residents, with the exception of seniors 70 and older who will receive the lifetime card for free. The council also voted to eliminate registration fees for a majority of the city’s recreation programs.

The city’s activity card allows residents to take part in a variety of activities for free that many other cities charge for, such as aerobic and aquatic exercise classes, sports programs, dance, arts & crafts classes and preschool programs.

Dealing with the financial fallout of the “Great Recession” and a $3 million revenue shortfall, the council voted in September 2010 to increase the fees, and in June 2011 to establish the controversial 3-tier system as it tried to manage the then nearly $4 million deficit in the wake of the State’s taking away of the city’s redevelopment funds.

But the city’s finances have improved, with a $1 million dollar surplus for the 2013-2014 Fiscal Year, in large part due to increased revenue from Measure AA, a 2012 voter approved half cent sales tax increase.

(City of Commerce)

City Council candidate John Soria has made the fees the linchpin of his campaign and told EGP he’s glad the others candidates have also seen the “value” of reducing the fees and have made it their cause.

“Our residents deserve to have affordable access to city programs and services available as a result of healthy revenue generated by our industrial neighbors,” he said.

Candidate and former councilman Hugo Argumedo told EGP he does not understand why it’s taken the council so long to act on reducing the fees for programs that the city’s low-income residents depend on.

“Why did it take an election for them to act,” he said. “They had no problem raising their salaries,” referring to a 35% increase approved earlier this year.

By law, the city council can raise their salaries 5% a year, but due to the financial crisis, they had not hiked their pay in seven years. The 35% increase covers the full seven years and will go into effect in April. Only Councilwoman Denise Robles, who is up for reelection, opposed the increase.

The council always said it would rollback fees once the city’s financial condition improved and they believe it has, Parks and Recreation Director Scott Wasserman told EGP.

In a letter mailed out last Thursday and Friday to about 3,300 Commerce households, City Administrator Jorge J. Rifa wrote that Commerce’s improving financial condition had allowed the council to reduce the Resident Activity Card to $5 and reduce fees on other popular programs.

He thanked the community on behalf of the city council for “paying the increased recreation fees for the past 5 years,” as the city was “coping with the impacts of the ‘Great Recession.’”

Other programs, such as kids club, youth and adult swim lessons, camp Commerce, adult golf program, admission to the adult holiday faire and adult arts and crafts will continue charging, as they have always done.

Former councilwoman Sylvia Munoz said she’s glad the fees have been reduced, “but residents deserve more.” She said since Commerce was first founded it always operated under the motto of “the city for the people” and resident cards were free. Now, she questions whether the fee reduction is permanent or if they will go up again after the elections.

The fee reduction will reduce city revenue by $65,000, Wasserman told the council at its Feb. 17 meeting. He said all but $13,000 of the revenue was generated through the $10 regular card, the cheapest in the 3-tier schedule.

According to Rifa, park fees “will be reconciled with the many budget priorities and decisions that go into approving a balanced fiscal year 2015-2016 budget.”

The approval of Measure AA coupled with businesses doing better has put the city in a better place to keep programs strong, Councilman Ivan Altamirano told EGP.

“It is a great thing to be able to hear what our community needs are and be able to provide [it],” he said.

Munoz told EGP the three-tier card was hurting mainly families with three or more children because activities were becoming expensive. “Hopefully now [with the change] they can enroll kids in more sports,” she said.

The city will refund fees to residents who paid the higher fees after Jan. 1 of this year. People who paid with a credit card will have the money returned to the card they used. Those who paid by cash or check should go to the parks and recreation counter to request a refund between March 1 and April 1, 2015.

Tucked in the middle of all the factories, warehouses and rendering plants in Vernon is an elementary school with more students than there are residents in the city.

Most of the students who attend Vernon City Elementary are the children of workers at local businesses who travel to the city from outlying cities and nearby neighborhoods. For many of the workers, time and money are often in short supply.

As parents, they find comfort knowing their child is close by in case of an emergency and that the school offers after-school programs they would be hard pressed to enroll them in closer to home.

A large number of Vernon Elementary students stay on campus after the 2:30 p.m. school bell rings to take part in Woodcraft Rangers after-school program, where they spend the afternoon learning about robotics, gardening and even American Sign Language.

For the last 20 years, Woodcraft Rangers - an after-school program designed for low-income neighborhoods that offer limited opportunities to its youth - has allowed kindergarten through sixth grade students at Vernon Elementary to participate in programs that would otherwise be out of their reach.

Unlike many other afterschool programs that only offer homework help, arts and crafts and play time, students in Woodcraft Rangers also participate in clubs organized around specific themes, such as dance, gardening, American Sign Language and robotics. They can also participate in structured sports programs like soccer and basketball.

“A lot of these kids can’t do the extra curricular activities because parents don’t have the time,” and Woodcraft Rangers fill that void, explains Principal Fabiola Hernandez.

That was the case for nine-year old Dulce Lupita Camarena who wanted to take dance classes and play a sport. Her mother Guadalupe Herrera said her work schedule and the expense would have made it impossible if it were not for the after-school program.

The help Herrera’s daughter gets with her homework is also a big deal for the Mexican-born mother, whose grasp of English is limited and who like many other immigrant parents has trouble reading and understanding homework assignments.

Students in the program can stay at the school until 6 p.m., an added blessing to working parents who don’t have anyone to pick up or care for their child when school lets out.

It’s a “big help,” says Herrera who lives in Compton and doesn’t end her workday at a local factory until 4:30 p.m. It also helps her very tight budget, saving about $100 week in added childcare costs which she must already pay for her youngest child.

Like most children at Vernon Elementary, Dulce is able to attend the small Los Angeles Unified District school on permit because her mother works in the city. Students travel to the school from Downey, Lynwood, Huntington Park, Boyle Heights, Bell, Bell Gardens, Montebello, Los Angeles and beyond.

“If we didn’t have this program I don’t think we would have that many children enrolled in this school,” said Principal Hernandez, adding that when most parents inquire about the school they want to know if there is after-hours childcare.

It also helps that all activities, clubs, fieldtrips, supplies and uniforms are free.

Things that children from more affluent backgrounds neighborhoods might take for granted are a very big deal for Woodcraft Rangers participants like Roberto Carlos of Long Beach, who was thrilled the first time he saw his name printed on his basketball jersey.

The 11-year old also learned to build and program a small robot during the robotics club, something he says he never thought he would be able to do.

“It was a new experience,” he said. “I learned a lot.”

Clubs like robotics and gardening are an example of STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) infused into the curriculum of Woodcraft Rangers.

In the gardening club, students have grown beans, cilantro, kale, onions, potato, lettuce and corn in the school’s first community garden. They are allowed to take some of the vegetables home.

The school’s principal told EGP the after-school experience has other added benefits and “ has helped shy students excel beyond the classroom.”

Vernon City Elementary students rehearse their dance recital during the Woodcraft Rangers afterschool program Monday. (EGP photo by Nancy Martinez)

The 10-year old said she didn’t know what sign language was before taking the class but she has quickly picked it up and has even performed Christmas carols and participated in a “Frozen” themed recital, all in sign language.

“Anything you teach to younger kids they are going to pick up fast, so long as we make it fun,” emphasized American Sign Language instructor Marla Vargas.

As part of Woodcraft’s dance club, Dulce has learned salsa, cumbia, break-dance and African-inspired routines. The dance team recently won first place in a local dance competition and now the young dancer is considering a career in the arts.

“I hope we win again,” she said enthusiastically.

“It motivates them and motivates us as parents to work harder,” said her mother, reflecting on the competitions and parades her daughters have been a part of because of the program.

Woodcraft Ranger site coordinator Jerry Garcia says the dance recitals, sports tournaments and other presentations have also helped “build a community in Vernon,” bringing residents from all over the region to the resident-poor city.

“This is the heart of the community,” he said.

Vernon Opens Lottery for New Affordable Housing

Employers in the city of Vernon are encouraging their workers to apply for a chance to make the industrial city their home, by applying for one of the soon to open new affordable housing units being built in the city.

While as many as 55,000 workers commute to Vernon every day from cities as close as Maywood to more distant locations throughout L.A. County, only about 100 or so people can currently call themselves residents. But that will change in a few months when the city doubles its population with the opening of a new housing complex in late April or May.

Businesses have been making a push to get their employees to apply, but applications are open to anyone who meets the income qualifications for the Vernon Village Park project, located at 4675 East 52nd Dr., near the city’s southeast border with Maywood.

The deadline to apply for one of the 45-units — 9 one-bedroom apartments, 22 two-bedroom units and 14 three-bedroom units — is 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27. A lottery is scheduled for Tuesday, March 3 at 6p.m at City Hall.

Construction of the Vernon Village Park housing project continues on the 4600 block of 52nd Drive. (EGP photo by Nancy Martinez)

Marisa Olguin of the Vernon Chamber of Commerce encouraged the city’s 1,800 companies to share the information with their employees.

“Who wouldn’t want to live close to work,” said Olguin in a city newsletter. “I can easily imagine there would be many Vernon workers who will find Vernon Village Park an attractive option to their present housing situation.”

Olguin added that the move would relieve the stress for commuters who would go from gridlocked freeways to a 10-minute commute.

Melissa Hansen of Hansen Cold Storage Construction, said the Vernon company made sure they put that information on display for their employees when they heard about the project.

Councilmember-elect Melissa Ybarra told EGP she wants to make sure everyone is encouraged to apply.

“Remember, we want to be transparent and increase that [voter] population,” she said. “If not, it will eliminate what we fought for,” she said, referring to city near disincorporation in 2011.

United Steel Fence Company co-owner Alma Arredondo, however, said she did not think there was a need to encourage their employees to apply for the housing, since many of their workers already have homes.

“They love coming here to work, but they love where they live,” she said.

Luis Saavedra is the general manager for Tapatio Foods. He told EGP most of their employees are already local and live in adjacent cities such as Maywood.

According to a survey conducted by the chamber 80 percent of the city’s 55,000 employees live within 5 miles of their job.

Meta Housing Corporation is building and will operate the apartment complex through Solari Enterprise Inc. The city agreed to lease the two-acre property to the developer for $1 a year for 65 years.

The gated community will be non-smoking and have amenities such as onsite management, community building, a laundry room, computer lab, tot lot and onsite parking.

To qualify, applicants must meet household gross annual income restrictions based on the number of occupants.

Gross annual incomes may not exceed $34,260 for a one-person household; $39,120 for a two-persons; $44,040 for a three-persons; $48,900 four-persons; $52,860 for a five people and $56,760 for a six-person household.

Rent is expected to range from $687 for a one-bedroom to $1,272 for a three-bedroom. Section 8 will be accepted.

The project has been in the works since 2013, in response to criticism that Vernon lacked a true electorate and was prone to corruption. The new residents will also help double the city’s voting population. During Tuesday’s election only 26 of the city’s 63 registered voters submitted their mail-in-ballot, according to preliminary results.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas issued a ruling stalling President Obama’s executive orders, which would protect an estimated 4 million to 5 million immigrants living in the country illegally from deportation.

Hanen’s ruling was made in response to a lawsuit filed by 26 states to try to permanently stop the president’s orders.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would delay implementation of the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program until further notice, putting the application process that was to have started Wednesday temporarily on hold. However, applications from people who qualify under the original DACA guidelines issued in 2012 will still be accepted.

“You know better, you are a judge, not the president,” Los Angeles Councilman Gil Cedillo said during the press conference at City Hall. He said it’s been well established that the president’s actions are “within his powers.”

Cedillo said Hanen and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott should review “what part of legal” they don’t understand. “Shame on you for failing to recognize the laws and this president. You should not engage in partisan politics,” Cedillo said.

The DACA expansion, which was set to start Wednesday, removes the 30-year age limit, allowing immigrants who came to the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2010, and were 16 or younger when they arrived, to apply for relief from deportation and authorization to work in the country legally.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 330.000 undocumented immigrants would benefit from the expansion.

“We are really going to fight for our dreams, we are not giving up,” said Erica, who said expanding DACA would have allowed her to get in to the medical field.

The second part of the executive action, known as the Deferred Action for Parents Arrival (DAPA) —estimated to begin in May—also provides deportation relief and work authorization to parents of U.S. citizens or legal residents who have been in the country since 2010.

Norma Torres is undocumented and told EGP she was shocked by the judge’s action. She said she personally would have benefitted from DAPA, and she’s committed to keep fighting to make it happen.

“This is just an obstacle,” she said.

Representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union noted that the judge did not rule on the states’ assertion that the president’s immigration actions were unconstitutional. The judge only issued an injunction blocking their implementation while the lawsuit was pending.

“The decision is very narrow, holding only that the federal government may have failed to follow procedural requirements before implementing” the orders, according to Cecilia Wang, director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.

On Tuesday, the White House announced it plans to appeal the ruling. It will be heard by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

“It doesn’t matter if it goes all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles, “We know that history is on our side. We know the law is on our side.”

She called on parents who will benefit because of a child’s legal status, to get them to register to vote if they are 17 or older.

“Have them vote for you, [in 2016] so that Republicans understand that they cannot attack our families,” she said.

In the meantime, pro-immigrant rights groups said people eligible for legal status under either of the orders should continue to prepare to apply. Make sure you have all the right documents, said Martha Arevalos, executive director of the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN).

The 26 states that are party to the lawsuit are Republican strongholds. The plaintiffs claim Obama’s executive action “violates the United States Constitution and federal law, circumvents the will of the American people and affront families and people who follow the laws to legally migrate.”

Legislators from those states have tried to block implementation in Congress with amendments to the appropriations bill to fund the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40) said she is confident that the Texas decision will not stand, “But if the Republican leadership in Washington truly believes this court case will go their way in the end, they should stop holding hostage the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. There are only four legislative days left before funding runs out.”

Texas Gov. Abbott hailed the judge’s action.

“We live in a nation governed by a system of checks and balances, and the president’s attempt to bypass the will of the American people was successfully checked today,” Abbott said.

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, said he was still confident the immigration orders would be ultimately upheld.

“Round one is in. But one round doesn’t make a fight,” Becerra said. “Immigrant families are accustomed to the tough fight. We’ll get up tomorrow, push hard, stay strong and put our faith in the Constitution. Mark my words: The human spirit will prevail.”

A new $100,000 veteran’s monument in the heart of El Sereno was celebrated on President’s Day Monday.

The monument-flagpole is dedicated to World War II Marine veteran and Navy Cross recipient Guy Gabaldon, an eastside native.

Gabaldon’s heroic accomplishments during the battle of Saipan were chronicled in the movie “Hell to Eternty.”

The monument features a circular design that centers on an American flag that will be lit at night; a base for the flag with five seals representing the five branches of the military; red benches on opposite sides of the outside of the circle and raised lettering spelling out El Sereno Veterans Memorial.

“As we honor great U.S. Presidents like Washington and Lincoln, men whose vision and resolve guided our country through conflicts that came to define the values we hold dear as Americans, I can think of no greater tribute than to honor the Veterans who made that vision possible,” said Councilmember Huizar.

The monument is located on a large median on Huntington Drive North, near Van Horne Ave.